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The many faces of Canada’s special forces

Some special forces soldiers fit the stereotype, with bulging T-shirts and tattoos. But many others are the grey man who could easily be mistaken for an insurance salesman, able to blend well with a crowd. Here’s a look at three personnel serving with Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.

The sergeant serving with Canadian special operations forces in northern Iraq has "cry havoc" tatooed on his right thumb.

Chief Instructor, Major Alain Matteau walks away from one of the Griffon helicopters of the 427 SOAS (Special Operations Aviation Squadron). At Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Petawawa, members of the ultra secretive Canadian Special forces (CANSOFCOM) go through a variety of training exercises. (Richard Lautens / Toronto Star)

The Sergeant

“Cry havoc.”

The tattoo on the right thumb of the special forces sergeant is taken from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “Cry ‘Havoc,’ and let slip the dogs of war.”

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For a 10-year veteran of special forces, it’s perhaps a fitting choice of literature.

After dabbling as a big-city bike courier, a martial arts instructor — a passion he still pursues, and some office work — “it wasn’t quite for me,” he says with some understatement — he found a career fit with Canada’s special forces.

“It’s the right job for me,” he said.

He has served around the world, including four tours in Afghanistan, where he was injured when an improvised explosive bomb detonated during a foot patrol. This spring he was among the Canadian soldiers serving in northern Iraq on a mission to train Kurdish peshmerga soldiers in their fight against Daesh militants.

The sergeant likes the latitude that comes with the job and the encouragement to find what he calls “unconventional solutions” to complex problems. But he knows the risks are real, too.

“Our tasks, they’re important. The risk to life is real here. The risk to mission is real. The fact that we are sent as representatives of our country, any misstep reflects poorly on the people of Canada, the Government of Canada,” the sergeant said.

Some tasks handed to special forces are “Hollywood-worthy,” he said, but adds, “those aren’t tasks we publicize.”

In addition to his standard-issue gear, the sergeant carries one eye-catching piece of kit — a tomahawk strapped to his right leg.

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Fashioned from hardened steel, it serves as a multi-purpose tool, able to cut chain, knock a door of its hinges and, in Afghanistan, cut holes in mud walls to make a firing port.

He had a tomahawk before he joined the military and when he deployed to Afghanistan, took it with him.

“People weren’t quite sure what I was doing with it until I showed them the various uses. Now, it’s become part of our culture. If I leave anything to this command, it’s the tomahawk,” the sergeant said.

Don't tell the corporal serving with Canadian special operations forces in northern Iraq that he's part of an elite force. "We're not elite soldiers. We're just soldiers who do the basics very well."

The Corporal

Known as an “SOF” baby, the corporal joined special operations forces soon after enlisting in the military in 2011.

He was attracted to the career after reading books on the exploits of special forces units. Now that’s he in, he can say the experience has delivered the camaraderie and adventure he had read about.

“We have a very busy schedule. We are deployed quite a bit around the world. That’s another reason why guys want to join. They want to be put to work, deployed and doing their job,” the corporal said.

Just don’t describe him as “elite.”

“We’re not elite soldiers. We’re just soldiers who do the basics very well,” the corporal said.

“We train the basics over and over again so they become second nature. Basic soldiering skills, the foundation blocks to what makes you a soldier — shoot, move and communicate,” he said.

He said being in the special forces carries with it the same risks faced by soldiers in the regular army.

“Some of the missions we do around the world are less dangerous than others. But they all have that level of danger to them that we all accept as basic soldiers coming into the Canadian Armed Forces,” he said.

He’s happy that the military is pulling back the curtain a bit to tell Canadians a little more about what special forces do.

“I think Canadians at home are interested to hear more of what that capability is. I think they are curious to know what the Canadian special forces are up to, what they’re doing and how they are being represented on the world stage,” the corporal said.

“It’s a capable force and it’s ready at the call of the government to do what needs to be done,” he said.

One of the Griffon helicopters piloted by Major Alain Matteau. (Richard Lautens)

The Pilot

Listen to veteran pilot Alain Matteau talk about “customers” and “deliveries” and you might think he flies for an express parcel airline.

But Matteau is a major with 427 special operations aviation squadron, his “customers” are special forces soldiers and his mission is to deliver them to a target.

“It’s our business, it’s our customer and we take it seriously,” Matteau said.

As the squadron’s chief instructor with 3,500 hours in his logbook, he makes it look easy.

Piloting his Griffon helicopter over the expansive training grounds at Garrison Petawawa, Matteau cranks over in a crushing right turn, the ground flashing by just 30 metres below.

He lines up on a tower that serves as a mock-up for a mid-size building and pulls the chopper into an aggressive flare to bleed off speed, slowing from 150 km/h to a perfectly timed hover just as he comes over the rooftop.

“Insert, insert, insert,” Matteau commands over the intercom.

If this was a real scenario, special forces soldiers would be sliding down ropes out each side of the helicopter, onto the rooftop and assaulting a target.

On this day, it’s only a flying drill, and Matteau and his fellow pilot peel off to practice again. And again.

“During the day, this is pure fun. At night is where we earn our paycheque,” he said.

In this kind of flying, any misjudgment can have deadly consequences.

“As I’m coming in over the building, I’m still flaring, the guys are on the rappel ropes. I can’t overshoot that building,” he said.

Make it a moving target — like a ship at sea — and it becomes even more challenging. And the first time the pilots may actually see their target is when are they are making their final approach.

“Picture a building like this in downtown Toronto. We’ve never seen it, never been there before. We call them a one-hit wonder,” Matteau said.

“All we have is imagery. We plan accordingly with obstacles and what it’s going to look like on approach. But really, we don’t know because we’ve never been there,” he said.

Such specialized flying skills take years to hone. It can take upwards of five years to become an aircraft commander flying special forces missions, eight to 10 years to gain “finesse and high proficiency,” Matteau said.

The squadron has 46 pilots and 107 maintenance personnel for its fleet of 15 helicopters, all painted blue to avoid attracting attention at civilian airports. The squadron currently has three helicopters in northern Iraq, helping to transport Canadian soldiers working there to train peshmerga forces.

***

In a joint reporting project, the Toronto Star and CTV News got an exclusive look at the work of Canadian special forces soldiers in northern Iraq, where they are helping to train peshmerga soldiers. As well, the two media outlets spent time at the base in Petawawa, Ont., to see special forces members in training.

Under the rules laid down by the military, the Star and CTV were allowed to show the faces of some soldiers but identify them by their rank only. Senior commanders could be named.

Some elements of special forces remained off limits, notably members of Joint Task Force 2. That is, in part, what landed former prime minister Stephen Harper’s office in hot water last year when it produced two videos highlighting the former prime minister’s visit to Iraq that showed the faces of JTF2 soldiers protecting him.

Maj.-Gen. Mike Rouleau, head of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM), said it was his decision to decide to reveal more about special forces.

“We’ve accepted that we’re going to have to show a certain amount of other parts of CANSOFCOM. The entire force of over 2,000 people cannot live in the shadows. That is unsustainable,” Rouleau told the Star.

“None of these decisions are ever without any risk, but in 2016 but there are many ways of finding out about people. Seeing a face on TV is but one of them,” he said.

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